Moving to LA this summer! (Vista, Santa Monica: apartment, to rent, condo)

[ledo1611]

my wife and I will be moving to LA this summer. I got a new job working at the medical campus in UCLA. and my wife currently works from home. we have 2 kids; a 6 year old who will be starting first grade this coming year, and a 4 year old. we are looking into housing and school options right now and would really appreciate some advice. the kids are currently in the Montessori school system which we love and would like to keep them within that system if possible. so ideally we are looking for a Montessori school that has both KG and elementary programs for both kids, reasonable distance from UCLA. we would like to rent a house, condo or an apartment, 3 bedrooms (or 2 bedrooms + office space). regarding budget we can stretch that up to ~ $3000-3500 if we have too.

any advice is greatly appreciated!
Thanks.

[BRinSM]

you might be able to find a detached house in the southern section of westwood or rancho park in your price range, but it will be on the smaller side. mar vista and culver city should have more options. if you don't mind the commute, you'd have tons of options in the valley. sherman oaks isn't all that from ucla.

[ledo1611]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

you might be able to find a detached house in the southern section of westwood or rancho park in your price range, but it will be on the smaller side. mar vista and culver city should have more options. if you don't mind the commute, you'd have tons of options in the valley. sherman oaks isn't all that from ucla.

Thanks for the reply. is Mar Vista and Culver city safe for children? we prefer to be in an area where you can actually walk to nearby places and the kids can play safely. any specific places there to avoid? how about Westwood?

[Mike121]

Originally Posted by ledo1611

Thanks for the reply. is Mar Vista and Culver city safe for children? we prefer to be in an area where you can actually walk to nearby places and the kids can play safely. any specific places there to avoid? how about Westwood?

Westwood is split into college student neighborhoods and single-family-home neighborhoods. The college-student neighborhoods are not really great areas for families. The single-family-home areas of Westwood are nice but rather expensive.

[domdigs]

Try Santa Monica, you can rent a nice house for under 3k with a yard. Commute to UCLA via Wilshire or 10 can take anywhere from 10 mins to 1 hour depending on traffic. Great weather, friendly neighbors and lot of family attractions to take advantage of here.

[jamills21]

Look around the mid city area for bigger lots for less money. Suprisingly nice homes.

[ledo1611]

Thanks for the replies. how do we find out about schools in different areas? as I mentioned in my original post; we would like to stay with the Montessori system but we also need to explore the other systems (public and private elementary and preschool) as a backup since the Montessori schools usually have a waiting list.

Regards